|
U.S. Interest in Mideast News Up, Unchanged in World News
By
Steve Smith, IOL
Washington
correspondent
WASHINGTON
, June 13
(IslamOnline) – The U.S. public interest in international news has
largely been unaffected by the September 11 attacks and the subsequent
U.S.
self-styled “war
on terror”, but more people are following the Arab-Israeli conflict,
a leading research center said.
The
new survey released Sunday, June 9, was based on a poll of more than
3,000 adults taken in late April and early May 2002, by the
Pew
Research
Center
for the People and
the Press.
The
study has revealed that the news habits of average
U.S.
citizens have
remained unchanged since the attacks.
Reported
levels of reading, watching and listening to the news are not markedly
different than in the spring of 2000, said the Center, one of the most
authoritative polls and survey centers.
“At
best, a slightly larger percentage of the public is expressing general
interest in international and national news, but there is no evidence
its appetite for international news extends much beyond terrorism and
the Middle East,” the report stated.
The
additional interest was registered in the poll was limited to
terrorism and the
Middle East
.
“In
the past few months, as many as four-in-ten Americans have paid very
close attention to news about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which
exceeds previous levels of interest in this dispute dating back to the
late 1980s,” the report said.
But
other international news attracts no greater attention than in the
past. Just 6% paid very close attention to the failed coup in
Venezuela
, and the same
small number closely tracked the surprising showing of right-wing
presidential candidate Jean-Marie Le Pen in the French election.
More
Americans say they are generally interested in international news, and
the percentage who follow overseas developments very closely has grown
from 14% to 21% over the past two years.
But
Pew said that a solid majority of the public (61%) continues to track
international news only when major developments occur, while far fewer
(37%) are consistently engaged by international news coverage. By
comparison, solid majorities keep up with national and local news
(53%, 56% respectively) most of the time, not just when something
important happens.
Moreover,
almost all of the increased interest in international news has come
among a narrow, highly-educated segment of the public, the same
demographic groups that traditionally have dominated the audience for
this coverage.
Those
have traditionally been affluent Americans, college graduates and
older people. Those who are younger, less educated and have lower
incomes are not significantly more interested in overseas news
coverage than they have been in the past.
The
survey offers powerful evidence that broad interest in international
news is mostly inhibited by the public’s lack of background
information in this area.
Overall,
roughly two-thirds (65%) of those with moderate or low interest in
international news say they sometimes lose interest in these stories
because they lack the background information to keep up, Pew said.
The
poll finds fewer people explaining their lack of international news
interest in terms of the repetitiveness of overseas news, its
remoteness, or excessive coverage of wars and violence.
The
Pew
Research
Center
’s biennial news
survey, conducted among 3,002 adults from April 26-May 12, finds that
the two major trends shaping news consumption habits in the late 1990s
have leveled off.
First,
the dramatic growth in online news consumption has ebbed, as increases
in overall internet penetration have slowed. The survey shows that 25%
of Americans go online for news at least three times a week, compared
with 23% in 2000. But the relative impact of online news remains
substantial among those under age 30, where online news has a larger
following than any other format except local TV news.
Second,
the steady erosion of the regular audience for network evening news
over the past decade has abated. Roughly one-third (32%) regularly
watch one of the nightly network news broadcasts, compared with 30% in
2000.
This
is comparable to the overall cable news audience of 33%. Still, with
the exception of CNBC, the audience of major cable channels is up
slightly since 2000, and the Fox News Channel’s audience rivals CNN
(22% regularly watch Fox, 25% CNN).
The
U.S. is a major source of entertainment and news that affect other
parts of the World.
The
U.S. has the most highly developed mass media in the world. Television
is the main player, with many homes having access to dozens of
commercial channels offering a wide range of programming.
Public
broadcasting is partly funded by the government, but also supported by
private grants. The government exercises no editorial control over
public broadcasting.
There
are more than 1,500 daily papers, most have a local or, at best,
regional audience. Newspapers rely on advertising for a substantial
part of their revenue, but this is under threat from other commercial
outlets, such as cable TV or the internet.
|
